Poll finds approval for mayor, police on May Day protests

At least half of Seattle residents approve of the way the mayor and police handled the May Day protests that erupted in violence in downtown Seattle Tuesday, according to a KING-TV poll conducted Wednesday.

Half of residents said they approved of how Mayor Mike McGinn handled the protests (35 percent disapproved) and 56 percent approved of the police department’s actions (31 percent disapproved).

But the mayor didn’t get a bump in his overall approval ratings, according to the poll. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they disapprove of the job the mayor is doing in office compared with 32 percent who said they approve and 19 percent who said they weren’t sure.

The survey of 500 Seattle adults was conducted for KING-TV news on Wednesday by SurveyUSA. The margin of error ranged from plus or minus 4.2 percent to plus or minus 4.5 percent.

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The Today File is a general news blog featuring real-time coverage of Seattle and the Northwest. It is reported by the news staff of The Seattle Times and includes stories from The Associated Press and McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.